Message from Dr. Rick Glazier – November 29, 2021

Dear Health Services and Policy Research (HSPR) Community,

November 29th – December 5th is Digital Health Week – a timely and pressing topic for the HSPR community.

A strong digital health infrastructure underpinning the health care system is needed to accelerate system transformation. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic much non-urgent care across the country moved to virtual visits, transforming health care within days. It is now time to continue this transformation and bring all aspects of health care into the digital economy through safe, secure interoperable systems. At the Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (IHSPR), we are excited about the prospect of emerging work in this field and the ways in which digital health can be optimized to improve health outcomes for all Canadians.

IHSPR released its new Strategic Plan: “Accelerate Health Care System Transformation through Research to Achieve the Quadruple Aim and Health Equity for All” in May 2021, with a specific priority to “modernize the health care system with digital health solutions and data science”. We believe that with collective commitment and action, together as a community we can:

  • Support research that enhances the design, implementation, and evaluation of digital health solutions, including virtual care technologies, that aim to improve health and patient/provider experience outcomes;
  • Encourage and enhance the use of data and data analytics, including artificial intelligence (AI), in various realms of health services and policy research as a means to improve health outcomes and health equity; and
  • Support a strong digital health ecosystem that includes leading-edge health services and policy research, enhanced data access and linkage, improved predictive modeling, secure digital health services available to all Canadians, and improved digital health literacy.

We look forward to continued collaboration with the HSPR community as we begin to roll out and implement our plan.

Sincerely,
Rick Glazier

Date modified: